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GoPro your way down Sochi's 'dangerous' slopestyle course

By Matt Walks, Digital First Media

Updated:
02/06/2014 12:33:01 PM EST

Russian snowboarder Alexey Sobolev strapped a GoPro on his helmet and took to the 2014 Olympic slopestyle course on Monday, giving fans a preview of an event that will debut at Sochi. In a video titled “My journey on the Olympic slopestyle track,” Sobolev takes a straight-forward approach to the course, focusing on giving the viewer the best view possible.

The course has drawn much more attention than it normally would due to Shaun White's recent decision to bow out of the event citing “the potential risk of injury,” as well as his desire to focus on his gold-medal defense of the halfpipe event. White banged up his wrist during a nasty spill on a slopestyle practice run, and he's not the only one who's been having trouble with the course.

Norway's talented rider Torstein Horgmo broke his collarbone when he fell off one of the course's many rail features. Horgmo, who was considered a serious contender for the event, will now miss the duration of the Games. Finland's Marika Enne was another victim of the course. The 21-year-old suffered a concussion after she hit her head during a practice run Tuesday.

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The Associated Press talked to a handful of slopestyle riders, many of whom had concerns about the condition of the course.

“It's like jumping out of a building,” Canadian rider and gold-medal favorite Sebastien Toutant added. Another rider, U.S.-born Seamus O'Connor, who's competing for Ireland, called the course “pretty dangerous.”

To the average viewer, the course looks pretty normal. It's tough to grade the consistency of the snow or the stickiness of the rails, but no glaring errors are apparent. That some riders are having a difficult time navigating is a testament to how much this sport relies on an athlete's ability to feel the course.